Eyeglass holder

ABSTRACT

An eyeglass holder is described in which a pair of elastomeric elements are formed on a base member, the elastomeric elements being configured to provide a target opening, a neck region narrower than the target opening, and a holding region sized to receive the eyeglasses and prevent movement thereof. The elastomeric elements are resilient and when pressed apart will return to their original positions and orientations. The eyeglasses are placed into the target region and then used to urge the elastomeric elements apart at the neck region and then held securely within the holding region. The neck region also functions to prevent vertical movement of the eyeglasses. The eyeglass holder is secured to a support surface using adhesive, hook and loop fasteners, or other fastening means.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates in general to eyeglass holders and inparticular to eyeglass holders that are mountable on a support surface.

Prescription sunglasses and reading glasses are often lost or damagedafter being placed haphazardly in an inappropriate location such as theseat cushion, the dashboard, or visor. If left on a seat cushion, aperson may sit on the sunglasses destroying them or damaging them sothat they are unfit for use. If left on the dashboard or visor, themotion of the car may slide the sunglasses into an inconvenient locationwhere it may be dangerous to attempt to reach them or, if out of sight,it may be dangerous to attempt to locate the sunglasses with a visualsearch in the car.

The prior art attempts to address these problems, but the solutions havebeen relatively complex, expensive to make, and are typically unable tohold a wide variety of eyeglass frames such as half-glasses or oversizedglasses. Therefore what is needed in the art is an eyeglass holder thatis simple, easy to make, and is capable of holding eyeglasses of avariety of shapes and sizes.

SUMMARY

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. The drawingsare not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed onillustration of principles of the invention. The drawings include thefollowing figures:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the presentinvention will become better understood with regard to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. The drawingsare not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed onillustration of principles of the invention. The drawings include thefollowing figures:

FIG. 1 is a front view of the eyeglass holder.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention may be understood by the following detaileddescription, which should be read in conjunction with the attacheddrawings. The following detailed description of certain embodiments isby way of example only and is not meant to limit the scope of thepresent invention.

FIG. 1 depicts the presently described eyeglass holder which is designedto be mounted on a support surface, for example, although not limitedto, a dashboard of an automobile or boat, a surface on a motorcycle orsnowmobile, or in a home. In general, the support surface may be anysupport surface and may be either horizontal, vertical, or angled in areadily accessible location. The eyeglass holder described herein isdesigned to provide for removably supporting a pair of eyeglasses safelyand securely to prevent damage or destruction of the eyeglasses.

in one embodiment, the eyeglass holder 100 is integrally constructed ofa soft non-scratch elastomeric material and includes a longitudinal axis101 to which the following portions are defined. In particular, theeyeglass holder 100 includes a base 102, having a bottom surface 104. Afirst elastomeric member 106 is affixed to the base and includes threeportions: a concave portion 108, a convex portion 110, and a recurveportion 112. The concave portion 108 is proximate to the base and therecurve 112 portion being distal thereto, wherein the convex portion 110is disposed in the middle, between the concave portion 108 and therecurve portion 112.

A second elastomeric element 114 is also affixed to the base 102. Thesecond elastomeric element 114 also includes three portions: a concaveportion 116, a convex portion 118, and a recurve portion 120. Theconcave portion 116 is proximate to the base 102 and the recurve 120portion being distal thereto, wherein the convex portion 118 is disposedin the middle, between the concave portion 116 and the recurve portion120.

The first and second elastomeric elements, 106 and 114 form a pair ofarms in which three regions are formed therebetween. The first of thethree regions is a holding region 122 is formed in the space formedbetween the concave portions of the first and second elastomericelements, 108 and 116 respectively. The second region is a neck region124 formed between the convex portions of the first and secondelastomeric elements, 110 and 118 respectively. The third region is atarget region 126 formed between the recurve portions of the first andsecond elastomeric elements 112 and 120, respectively. The recurveportions 112 and 120 provide a larger target area for the opening region126 in which to place the eyeglasses to make it easier to use theeyeglass holder described herein.

Eyeglasses are well known and typically include a wire or plastic framethat surrounds two optical lenses and further includes first and secondtemple pieces that are pivotally connected to the frame. The templepieces, as is well known, are typically folded across one another at therear of the frame to reduce the overall size of the eyeglasses forstorage in an eyeglass case, purse, pocket, or the eyeglass holderdescribed herein.

In the preferred embodiment, the elastomeric elements are formedintegral with the base portion and are designed to have elastic and/orresilient properties such that when displaced from their originalorientation, the elastomeric element will return to its originalconfiguration and orientation when released. The first and secondelastomeric elements may be made from a soft material that will notscratch or mar the surface of the eyeglass lenses when the eyeglassesare placed into the eyeglass holder, held within the eyeglass holder, orwhen removed. The soft material must be sufficiently durable to allowrepeated use of the eyeglass holder without fatigue and sufficientlystiff to prevent motion of the eyeglasses within the eyeglass holderafter being placed therein. In one embodiment, the soft material is anopen cell foam that provides the desired resilliancy and yet has amemory for returning to its original orientation. In another embodimentthe soft material is a rubber compound that has the desired surfacesoftness and resilience characteristics.

In another embodiment, the first and second elastomeric elements arelined with an outer covering layer that is applied to the inner surfaceof the two elastomeric elements to prevent scratching or marring of thelens surface. In this embodiment, the elastomeric elements may be madefrom stiffer material, such as plastics, and then lined with foam toprotect the delicate optical surfaces.

Prior to use, the user may or may not fold the temple pieces of theeyeglasses behind the frame as the eyeglass holder described herein isoperative to hold eyeglasses in either configuration. The user graspsthe glasses by the frame or the bridge and urges the eyeglasses throughthe target region 126 into the neck region 124. The first and secondelastomeric elements 106 and 114, respectively, are urged apart by theeyeglasses and the eyeglasses are then disposed within the holdingregion 122. The holding region 122 is sized and dimensioned to securelyhold the eyeglasses therein and to substantially prevent lateral andfore and aft movement of the eyeglasses. The eyeglasses are preventedfrom moving in a vertical direction by the convex portions of the firstand second elastomeric elements 110 and 118, respectively, that form theneck region 124.

The eyeglass holder described herein is securely affixed to a supportsurface, e.g., a dashboard of a vehicle, to properly perform itsfunction of securely and safely supporting a pair of eyeglasses. To thisend, the bottom surface 104 of the base 102 may have disposed thereon,an adhesive 105 that is used to secure the eyeglass holder to a surface.The adhesive 105 may be a piece of double sided tape or a piece of foamhaving adhesive on both sides, wherein, one side is affixed to thebottom surface 104 and the other is affixed to the support surface. Inanother embodiment, an adhesive, e.g., a glue or epoxy, may be placeddirectly on the bottom surface 104 to affix the eyeglass holder to thesupport surface. In another embodiment, a hook and loop fastener may beused wherein one, e.g., the hook fasteners are placed on the supportsurface and the other, e.g., the loop fasteners are placed on the bottomsurface 104. In another embodiment, a fastener may be affixed to thesupport surface and a fastener engaging means, complimentary to thefaster, is affixed to the bottom surface 104 of the eyeglass holder. Forexample, the fastener may include a clip portion designed for connectionand engagement to the fastener engagement means, for example by beingpress fit together or to be slidably received thereby. In anotherembodiment, one or more suction cups may be affixed to the bottomsurface 104 and used to affix the eyeglass holder to the supportsurface.

The eyeglass holder described herein may mounted in any convenientorientation, e.g., horizontal, vertical, or at an angle depending uponthe support surface.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and describedwith references to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understoodby those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details maybe made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as defined by the appended claims. All the features disclosedin this specification, including any accompanying claims, abstract, anddrawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same,equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise.

1. An eyeglass holder comprising: a base member; a first elastomericmember attached to said base member; a second elastomeric memberattached to said base member and spaced apart from said firstelastomeric member; a longitudinal axis defined between said first andsecond elastomeric members; said first elastomeric member having aconcave portion relative to said longitudinal axis proximate to saidbase, a convex portion relative to said longitudinal axis adjacent tosaid concave portion, and a recurve portion adjacent to said convexportion and distal to said base member; said second elastomeric memberhaving a concave portion relative to said longitudinal axis proximate tosaid base, a convex portion relative to said longitudinal axis adjacentto said concave portion, and a recurve portion adjacent to said convexportion and distal to said base member; and a glass holder area formedbetween the two concave portions of the first and second elastomericmembers, a neck area formed between the two convex portions of the firstand second elastomeric members, and an entry area formed between the tworecurve portions of the first and second elastomeric members.
 2. Theeyeglass holder of claim 1 wherein, the base member and the first andsecond elastomeric members are formed integral with one another.
 3. Theeyeglass holder of claim 1 wherein, the base member includes a bottomsurface having an adhesive formed thereon wherein the base can besecured to a surface by said adhesive.
 4. The eyeglass holder of claim1, further including double sided tape having a first surface affixed tothe bottom surface of the base member, and a second surface to beadhered to a support surface.
 5. The eyeglass holder of claim 1, furtherincluding a piece of foam having a first adhesive surface affixed to thebottom surface of the base member, and a second adhesive surface to beadhered to a support surface.
 6. The eyeglass holder of claim 1 whereinthe base member includes a magnet wherein the base can be secured to asupport surface by said magnet.
 7. The eyeglass holder of claim 4wherein the base member includes a bottom surface and wherein saidmagnet is secured thereto wherein the base can be secured to the supportsurface by said magnet.
 8. The eyeglass holder of claim 1 furtherincluding a fastener engagement element and a fastener element, whereinthe fastener engagement element and fastener element are complimentaryto one another, and wherein the fastener element is affixed to a surfaceand is received by the complimentary fastener engagement element,wherein the eyeglass holder is securely mounted on the surface.
 9. Theeyeglass holder of claim 8, wherein the fastener engagement element andfastener element are press fit together.
 10. The eyeglass holder ofclaim 8, wherein the fastener engagement element and fastener elementare slidably fit together.
 11. The eyeglass holder of claim 1 furtherincluding hook and loop fastener elements, wherein one of the hook andloop fastener elements are affixed on the bottom surface of the basemember and the other of the hook and loop fastener elements is affixedto a support surface and is received by the complimentary hook and loopelement, wherein the eyeglass holder is securely mounted on the surface.12. The eyeglass holder of claim 1, further including a suction cupaffixed to the bottom surface whereby the eyeglass holder may be affixedto a support surface by said suction cup.
 13. The eyeglass holder ofclaim 2 wherein the base and the first and second elastomeric elementsare comprised of open cell foam.
 14. The eyeglass holder of claim 2wherein the base and the first and second elastomeric elements arecomprised of plastic.
 15. The eyeglass holder of claim 11 wherein theplastic includes a soft outer covering.
 16. The eyeglass holder of claim2 wherein the base and the first and second elastomeric elements arecomprised of rubber.